An afternoon with Esme
by leiahlaloa
Summary: What did Edward do before Bella?  He doesn't even know.


**A/N- I have been listening to all this music and I've been meaning to tap into Edward's little music fetish. I just hadn't figured out a way. That is until I flipped through my music collection and ran across Mr. Jamie Cullum. Maybe you're familiar with him. Maybe not. He's a British young jazz musician… and well… if you'd like to learn more check him out on Wikipedia. **

**I LOVE Jamie. He's a talented performed and his music is inspiring. I will say that his last name is quite ironic… Jamie's that is.**

**The timeframe is somewhere during the summer between Twilight and New Moon. This is where I feel I have the most creative control. At least until Eclipse comes out in August. **

**Oh yeah.. before I forget… Edward and Bella are not my property. I only borrow them from Twilight and New Moon for my own personal amusements… and yours. AND the lyrics that I've borrowed are not mine either. Hence the "borrowed." **

I felt very misaligned. Bella had been gone for a while. She had been spirited away by Alice. Something about manicures and pedicures and a girl's day out. Alice forbade me to go.

I idled around my room for a little while, listening to whatever was in rotation on my stereo, and then grew impatient with myself. What had I done before Bella? I thought back to all the hours I spent studying medical texts and philosophy books. When the weather was grey enough I traveled to different countries, experiencing Europe and Central America at night. And I played the piano. It had been sufficient to fill my day with those things before. Why couldn't I distract myself for a few hours now?

I wasn't interested in studying human anatomy nor did a trip anywhere seem appropriate. I went down to the piano and opened the hollowed out bench. I had music there, arranged in different piles according to style. I had memorized most of the music, but it occurred to me suddenly that I had ordered a piece the day before I met Bella. When it arrived Esme had put it in the piano bench, and I hadn't given it a second thought because of the constant distraction Bella had been.

I didn't look at the words much as I glanced through the piece. It was a number called "What a Difference a Day Made," that a musician named Jamie Cullum had recently recorded. I flipped the metronome on and turned the counter to the specified tempo on the sheet music. It was easier to play a new piece of music if I had a tempo beating in my ears. Otherwise, I'd play it too fast and it would be over about three seconds after I started the music.

As soon as I began playing the piece, it became familiar to me. It was a song that I had encountered in the late fifties. It was nice and soft. Not nearly complicated enough for my accelerated techniques, but enjoyable. After the first play through, I began to sing tentatively along.

Esme's thoughts signaled to me that she was coming downstairs. I loved to play for her because she was content to sit and listen. I felt her presence as she sat down in one of the chairs closest, pleased to have me all to herself.

'_Edward, that is lovely.' _Her thoughts filled my mind, '_I would never try to take you from Bella, but I've missed our afternoon concerts._'

I knew that finding Bella meant that I would spend time away from my family. I almost looked around to apologize to Esme. I felt really bad about my absence. But she shushed me before I could.

'_It would be different if you weren't so happy. But I wouldn't stand between you and Bella for the whole world. Now don't stop singing. It sounds beautiful.'_

I straightened, not realizing that I was still playing the music and looked to see where I'd left off. I let my mind drift again as I began to sing.

This song's lyrics reminded me of Bella. A day had made the difference in my existence. In one day I had been tempted to kill her and then, miraculously, I managed to obtain some sort of supernatural control, keeping her alive. A situation that hadn't even plagued Carlisle in his three hundred plus years. And all because of that control… I had absolutely fallen for her… humanity and all

That's what surprised me and frightened me the most. That she was ruining her life because of me. If she could hear my thoughts, she would be arguing with me on that point, but she wasn't here. Esme was though… I began singing again.

"Edward, that is a marvelous piece of music. I seem to remember it from somewhere." Esme was beside me, leaning on the side of the piano.

"I can't remember who performed it, but I think it was introduced in the late fifties." I smiled up at her.

"Why don't you play music like this more often? And sing? I haven't heard you sing in so long, I was sure it was a dream—if I could sleep."

"Bella. I have a feeling that if I sang, she would make me sing all the time. I may love playing the piano, but singing is embarrassing because if I'm singing then I'm not thinking." I sighed.

"Why is that so bad?" Esme smiled and brushed a stray hair from my face.

"I guess because when I don't think, I'm fully exposed to my instinct and I do things that could get me into serious trouble."

"But if Bella wanted you to sing… you would." It was a statement.

"And she would want me to. She is attracted to my humming. I can only imagine what it would do to her human mind to hear me sing. Like a siren." I scoffed. I often wondered…. If I were human, would Bella give me a second glance? Would my un-amplified personality be enough to keep her interested? Would my looks captivate her the way they do now?

Esme placed her hands on my shoulders and squeezed.

"You are not attractive to her because you are a vampire." Esme's voice was certain, as if she had channeled my powers and was reading my mind, "It's because she loves you. The general interest may have been your amazing good looks. But she knows you. Who you are. I've seen her look at you. If she had been interested in your looks, she would have been long gone by now. She's seen your snarl. I think she'd prove you wrong."

"Thank you Esme." I sighed. She was right. Bella had seen a little more of me than I'd like for her to.

"You're always welcome." She tousled my hair and kissed my cheek in a very motherly way, "Now, play something for me."

"What would you like to hear?" I asked. I began to play her favorite but she stopped me.

"No… play something that you can sing along with." She sank back down into her chair.

I began to play a piano rendition of "Singin' in the Rain." It was very slow and restful sounding, compared to the film version.

Esme liked it though. After a few moments I realized that Alice and Bella were home. I only began to hear Alice's thoughts as they came bouncing up to the porch steps.

I paused, my hands posed on the keyboard.

"Keep playing—and singing." Esme heard them too. I complied.

As I continued, Bella and Alice came in and stood very still. Bella's face passed through Alice's mind. All I saw was that incredible smile of hers. I didn't stop playing. I just changed keys and began singing "Rainbow Connection." I heard Alice and Bella motion as they sat on the couch across from Esme.

Long moments of silence from my audience pressed me to play further. I was concentrating on the chords that would help me phase into another song after that. I heard Bella laugh quietly as she recognized it. It was the piece everyone acknowledged as the Charlie Brown song, but it was really titled "Linus and Lucy."

I began to make my movements exaggerated like Schroeder. They were all snickering by the time I got to the end. I turned and looked at them.

"That was amusing, Edward." Alice giggled.

"It was lovely. Thank you," Esme beamed at me. I turned to Bella, trying to block out Esme and Alice's thoughts. She was completely relaxed against the sofa's cushions and grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"What do you have to say?" I raised my eyebrows at her. She snuggled deeper into the sofa and sighed dreamily.

"That I have a boyfriend that can out sing Justin Timberlake any day." She seemed very satisfied with her lot and closed her eyes. Alice and Esme's laughter was a raucous that pulled everyone from their rooms.

"What is going on?" Carlisle asked. He looked at me because I was the only one who had any composure whatsoever.

"Bella." Alice's laughter almost drowned my reply out.

"What did she do? Did she fall?" Emmett leaned on the banister of the stairs and then realized that Bella was sitting on the couch with her eyes closed. His face fell.

"She was just being Bella as usual." I murmured. Bella opened her eyes long enough to give me an innocent look and then closed them again. My only response was to turn back to the piano and begin playing something else.

**A/N- Songs include "What a difference a day made?" as performed by Jamie Cullum, "Singin' in the Rain," as performed by Jamie Cullum, and "Rainbow Connection" as performed by Peter Cincotti. **

**Check them out. They both rock. **

**As to this little oneshot… I'm sorry. If Edward didn't play the piano, there would be no reason for song fics of any kind from this writing camp, but I listen to these songs everyday and dream of what they'd sound like with Edward at the piano. Heh...**

**Boo... I had to get rid of the song portion of this fic. But if you want to know what Edward was singing... go check out the lyrics. **


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